'Pops' served during World War II, only recently applied for VA care

Apr. 21, 2014

William J. Dormaier joined the Army in 1943 at age 35. / Submitted photo

Written by

Ron Simon

News Journal

William J. Dormaier on Feb. 13, 1943 in Los Angeles.

About this series

Every day, this nation loses thousands of its war veterans, men and women who put aside their other duties to serve their country. Each Monday, the News Journal will profile an area veteran. The profiles are archived on our website.

William J. Dormaier on July 12, 1943.

MANSFIELD — When William Dormaier joined the Army in 1943, he was 35 years old and just married.

He quickly made sergeant and the men in his unit called him “Pops.”

It’s not likely all of those young men still are alive, because Pops is about to celebrate his 106th birthday on Thursday.

Daryl Boggs of the Richland County Veterans Service Commission is sure Dormaier is the oldest living veteran in Richland County, perhaps even Ohio for that matter.

Dormaier is nearly deaf, and he is blind in one eye. He isn’t up to doing interviews these days, but his grandson, Robert Dormaier, knows all the stories and wants to share them.

In a News Journal interview in 2009, Dormaier said he was born in Kent, Ohio, and worked at the Firestone Co. before selling pictures and frames door-to-door. That job brought him to Mansfield in 1928. He was driving a brand new Chevrolet that cost him $250.

He started work young, shredding nuts and bolts for 10 cents an hour, or $5 a week for 50 hours of work.

He worked for Mansfield Tire for 28 years and then washed cars at a Mansfield dealership and kept up the grounds at Westbrook Country Club for years after that. He said he simply wanted to stay busy.

Teddy Roosevelt was president when Dormaier was born. He arrived four years before the Titanic sank and nine years before America entered World War I.

He was considered a bit too old for a young man’s war, but the Army finally accepted him in January 1943. He married his wife, Jayne, in March 1943 just before he was assigned to serve in Europe.

He quickly made sergeant and was assigned to Battery A of the 226th Searchlight Battalion.

He ran searchlights for anti-aircraft gunners and learned how to use a .50-caliber machine gun during attacks.

Not long after D-Day, his unit was in France. He soon discovered that enemy planes would use the beams of his searchlights to pinpoint their bombs. At least once those bombs nearly scored a hit, landing just a few feet away from Dormaier’s foxhole.

He toured Paris after its liberation. His guide was a man who would later rise high in politics in India. Dormaier found that out years later when he saw his guide’s photo while reading a newspaper in a barbershop.

At one point in Germany, he was only 100 miles from his father’s home town, but he never got there before the war ended.

He was transferred to a unit that specialized in tire maintenance. His pre-war job at Mansfield Tire may have caused that to happen.

His unit sailed to the Pacific, via the Panama Canal, and wound up in the Philippines.

“That place was flattened, and there was nothing left for us to do,” he said.

So he came home to be discharged and finally be with Jayne after a long separation.

Robert Dormaier said his grandfather only recently applied for medical care from the Veterans Administration.

He is hoping that his grandfather has a chance to tour the new VA facility on Trimble Road as a birthday present.

Boggs also hopes the Richland County Veterans Service Commission can add to that celebration.

Not all veterans wait until they are nearly 106 to apply for veterans benefits.

Ron Simon is a retired reporter, award-winning columnist and veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces. He can be reached at ronsimon@neo.rr.com.